Chapter 139 Bloodline
"This..."
Zhao Xu showed a look of distress.
He naturally couldn't rush to agree, otherwise Ma Xuan, an old fox, would be able to see through his mind at a glance.
"Please rest assured, Your Highness. My Ma family will never be disrespectful to Your Highness like Yuan Li and others." Ma Xuan saw Zhao Xu hesitated and felt anxious.
Ma Han was reluctant to take off his plate armor, and he also begged: "If Your Highness doesn't believe it, I can stay in Yancheng."
Zhao Xu was stunned. Ma Han's words were tantamount to being a hostage in Yancheng.
Having said this, Zhao Xu felt that he could relax, so he said: "This is not necessary. Since Ma Zhoumu is so sincere, I will set this precedent. However, the armor given to Ma Zhoumu cannot be as strong as the one worn by Mr. Ma. The quality will be a little worse, but the armor given to the generals can be the same."
"A little worse, how bad will it be." Ma Xuan was a little disappointed.
"Don't worry, Ma Zhoumu, at most the bow and arrow can penetrate this little bit." Zhao Xu raised his little finger and pointed at the finger cap.
Ma Xuan breathed a sigh of relief. This was enough for him.
Soldiers would not die at this depth. At most, they would break their skin and flesh, but it would not be fatal.
Besides, the better the armor, the more expensive it would be. He felt that there was no need to put the same armor on every soldier as the soldiers of the King of Yan.
This would cost money.
As for the generals, he felt much more at ease. For him, if a soldier died, he could recruit another one. If a general died, he would lose one.
"It doesn't make much difference. So it's settled?" Ma Xuan smiled.
Ma Han was a little disappointed. His idea of staying in Yan County fell through.
He was very interested in Zhao Xu. During his days in Yan County, he heard a lot of rumors and interesting things about the King of Yan.
He really wanted to know what interesting things the King of Yan could come up with as soon as possible.
"It's settled." Zhao Xu and Ma Xuan ignored Ma Han on the side.
Zhao Xu continued, "But I need the help of Mazhou Mu for something."
So he told him about the trade route.
"Okay, okay." Ma Xuan was even more surprised after hearing this.
He was just wondering how to tell King Yan about Jinzhou, but King Yan came to him unexpectedly.
For him, Jinzhou was very important.
Because once Jinzhou was lost, Xiliang could go east to Yanzhou, south to Sizhou and Qinzhou.
At that time, the Ma family would be finished.
This was also the reason why he wanted to fight Xiliang in Jinzhou.
Now King Yan's trade route passed through Jinzhou and went down to Sizhou.
Then he had to cooperate with his Ma family to deal with the Xiliang people, and the armor issue would be more secure.
Zhao Xu saw a hint of cunning in Ma Xuan's smile, and thought about it for a while and figured it out.
But he was not a person who would suffer a loss. Ma Xuan wanted to use him, and he also wanted to use Ma Xuan.
He had been coveting the rich population of Jinzhou for a long time.
After discussing this matter, Zhao Xu asked someone to prepare a banquet.
He also called Chang Wei and Liu Fu to accompany him. At the banquet, he and Ma Xuan decided on the price of armor.
Plate armor was 20 taels per set, and scale armor was 15 taels per set.
The armor of ordinary soldiers in Dasong only costs eight taels.
But this kind of armor is naturally not as good as his armor.
Ma Xuan also knew clearly that a soldier wearing plate armor was enough to kill three or four soldiers wearing ordinary armor.
Therefore, although this price hurt him, he still accepted it.
After trying the armor, he could see that he could not make plate armor.
Although scale armor could be made, the quality of the armor plates was not as good as that of the King of Yan.
The wine lasted for an hour.
Ma Xuan and his son were drunk, and Zhao Xu sent them to the inn.
Liu Fu said at this time: "Yuan Li must not have thought that he blocked the trade route of Yan County, and in a blink of an eye, His Highness opened another one. Xiliang also has the help of the Ma family, so there is no big problem."
"It's just that the price paid is a bit too high." Chang Wei was depressed. He was still a little unwilling to let the soldiers of the Ma family wear their armor, even though it was worse than theirs.
Zhao Xu was a little drunk. He laughed and said to Chang Wei, "What are you afraid of? You won't care much about armor after a while."
"I won't." Chang Wei shook his head.
"When the new stuff of the Arms Department comes out, you will know." Zhao Xu laughed twice.
Chang Wei's heart was immediately scratched by a cat.
But the King of Yan was keeping it a secret, so he could only feel uncomfortable.
"Besides, the Ma family needs my armor, which is equivalent to asking me for help. They will stand on the same boat with me for the time being." Zhao Xu continued.
In modern times, many big countries compete to sell weapons to small countries.
This is not just trade, but also a kind of geopolitics.
This is similar to his relationship with the Ma family. The two families are currently in a state of huddling together for warmth.
As for whether they will go their separate ways due to interests in the future, it doesn't matter.
Because at that time, he definitely won't need to rely on armor to fight.
Liu Fu and Chang Wei both nodded when they heard this.
They had to admit that in the big picture, they were not as far-sighted as the King of Yan.
The Ma family could gain an advantage in the war with Xiliang by wearing the armor provided by the palace, which also reduced the threat faced by Shanggu County.
The next day.
Ma Xuan returned to Qinzhou with Ma Han.
Zhao Xu sent the two to the west gate.
"Your Highness, I will send someone to Yancheng to pick up the goods in a while." Ma Xuan got on the horse and bowed to Zhao Xu.
"Don't worry, 10,000 sets of scale armor and 8,000 sets of plate armor will be in place within a month." Zhao Xu said.
Ma Xuan hoped to get a batch of armor to equip the elite of the Ma family as soon as possible.
If it is effective in actual combat, he will continue to purchase from the palace.
Ma Xuan was delighted to hear this and nodded heavily to Zhao Xu, "In this case, I will come to visit your highness another day."
Ma Han looked at Yancheng with some reluctance and said, "Your highness, thank you for your care during this period."
"No need to thank me. I hope you can take care of it when Yanjun Merchants pass through the border in the future." Zhao Xu smiled.
"Of course, leave it to me." Ma Han patted his chest.
After that, Ma Xuan nodded again and took Ma Han to the west.
Zhao Xu watched the two walk away and turned back.
"Father, based on what I saw and heard in Yanjun, this King of Yan is not simple."
After walking a distance, Ma Han looked back at Yancheng.
"So what? The throne will still have nothing to do with him in the future, and any prince who ascends the throne will not tolerate him." Ma Xuan said, "Who made him not have the blood of the powerful family flowing in his body?"
In Dasong, the powerful family is not only powerful, but also extremely respected.
The noble families in Dasong all considered it an honor to obtain the daughters of powerful families.
Because this would greatly enhance the status of their families.
Other powerful families would look up to them, and their children would be selected for official positions.
So in Ma Xuan's view, the future of the Prince of Yan would stop at Yanzhou.
Emperor Zhao Heng knew better than him that a prince without the blood of a powerful family could not ascend to the throne.
Although the eight powerful families fought each other, they always moved in unison on this matter.
Just like Zhao Heng never considered Prince Chun when he was fighting for the throne.
He knew that Prince Chun, who did not have the blood of a powerful family, would not get the support of the powerful families, and this was true.
"Father is right." Ma Han nodded.
But compared with those princes in the capital, the status of this Prince of Yan was indeed much more humble.